Playlist generation, delivery and navigation

Abstract

Automatic and assisted playlist generation is accomplished by collecting data from users of a world-wide music information system. Attributes of the recordings listened to by users are extracted from data collected when the users access the music information system. The attributes are correlated with other attributes in the system to verify data accuracy. Users can specify a set of attributes of their music collection for automatic generation of a playlist. The playlist can then be further edited, even on devices with a limited display and a few buttons designed for playback of recordings, by re-mapping the functions of the buttons for playlist generation.

1 . A method comprising:
 collecting information on playback of recordings containing audio in a plurality of geographic regions;   segregating the information and corresponding metadata by the geographic regions; and   selecting a portion of the corresponding metadata for one of the geographic regions based on the information.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing the portion of the corresponding metadata in a computer-readable memory.   
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the collecting, the segregating and the selecting are performed automatically by a programmed computer system. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting comprises:
 selecting the portion of the corresponding metadata for popular recordings that the information indicates are popular within at least one of the geographic regions.   
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting is repeated for more than one of the geographic regions. 
   
   
       6 . A method comprising:
 obtaining first metadata associated with a first recording;   accessing corresponding metadata for a geographical region obtained by collecting information on playback of a plurality of recordings in a plurality of geographic regions;   segregating the information and the corresponding metadata by the geographic regions;   selecting a portion of the corresponding metadata for at least one of the geographic regions based on the information, to provide a selected portion of the corresponding metadata; and   matching the first metadata with second metadata in the selected portion of the corresponding metadata.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the obtaining comprises:
 reading at least one of a filename or an ID3 tag of the recording.   
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the selected portion of the corresponding metadata comprises:
 at least one of artist names, album names, song names, genre and sub-genre information, release data, or country of origin.   
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 6 , comprising:
 accessing the corresponding metadata for a selected set of recordings; and   selecting related recordings from the selected set of recordings to form a playlist, wherein the related recordings have matching values for at least one type of the corresponding metadata.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the corresponding metadata comprises:
 at least one of artist names, album names, song names, genre and sub-genre information, release data, or country of origin.   
   
   
       11 . An apparatus comprising:
 a memory including instructions which, when executed by a processor, operate to store selected metadata for a geographical region obtained by collecting information on playback of recordings containing audio in a plurality of geographic regions, segregating the information and corresponding metadata by the geographic regions, and selecting a portion of the corresponding metadata to provide the selected metadata for the geographic region based on the information; and   re-mappable buttons to be re-mapped according to the instructions and a mode of operation of the apparatus.   
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, operate to obtain first metadata associated with a selected recording, to access the selected metadata, and to match the first metadata with second metadata in the selected metadata. 
   
   
       13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a display, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, operate to access first and second metadata for a set of the recordings and to select related recordings from the set of recordings to form a playlist to be displayed on the display, wherein the related recordings have matching values for at least one type of the corresponding metadata.   
   
   
       14 . A computer readable medium to store instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
 collecting information on playback of recordings containing audio in a plurality of geographic regions;   segregating the information and corresponding metadata by the geographic regions; and   selecting a portion of the corresponding metadata for one of the geographic regions based on the information.   
   
   
       15 . The computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
 grouping the recordings by one of intrinsic or extrinsic attributes.   
   
   
       16 . The computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
 grouping the recordings by music tribe identification.   
   
   
       17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the selecting comprises:
 selecting the portion of the corresponding metadata for popular recordings that the information indicates are popular within at least one of the geographic regions.   
   
   
       18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
 maintaining a genre relationship table.   
   
   
       19 . A computer readable medium to store instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
 obtaining first metadata associated with a first recording;   accessing corresponding metadata for a geographical region obtained by collecting information on playback of a plurality of recordings in a plurality of geographic regions;   segregating the information and the corresponding metadata by the geographic regions;   selecting a portion of the corresponding metadata for at least one of the geographic regions based on the information, to provide a selected portion of the corresponding metadata; and   matching the first metadata with second metadata in the selected portion of the corresponding metadata.   
   
   
       20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the obtaining comprises:
 reading at least one of a filename or an ID3 tag of the recording.   
   
   
       21 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the selected portion of the corresponding metadata include at least one of artist names, album names, song names, genre and sub-genre information, release data, or country of origin. 
   
   
       22 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises:
 accessing the corresponding metadata for a set of recordings containing audio; and   selecting related recordings from the set of recordings to form a playlist, wherein the related recordings have matching values for at least one type of the corresponding metadata.   
   
   
       23 . The computer readable medium of  claim 22 , wherein the corresponding metadata include at least one of artist names, album names, song names, genre and sub-genre information, release data, or country of origin.